Holy mother of……! I….we…..didn’t have any words to what we were seeing. Rogue, it was obvious, was livid. Nothing else could explain what had just happened. Not to mention the shaking earth and the howling winds. She was manipulating the elements in ways, I never thought was possible. She wasn’t looking at anyone at first, and then her eyes locked with Amy. Neither said a word but continued to look at each other. However, after spending a lot of time with the Watchers, we knew they were communicating. Rogue never uttered a sound. When Amy finally looked away, we all looked to her for guidance. She finally spoke when the wind died down a bit and the ground stopped shaking. Rogue was still levitating.

“We have to get Michelle back to your house Carlisle ASAP! Rogue thinks the Children of the Moon will be back. The one that attacked Michelle went to get the rest of his pack. We need to stand our ground there.” Amy said. Corin and the other Watchers nodded. They’ve dealt with these things before.

“How in the hell will we stand our ground to these things?” Emmett asked.

“How many of them are there?” Bella asked.

“14 or 15.” Corin said.

“14 or 15?????? We’re outnumbered!!!!” Nessie spoke up fearfully. Alexander looked at Rogue, then walked over to Nessie and put his hand on her shoulder and said:

“Well, actually the Cullen family will be outside on the porch while Michelle is lying down and hidden from view. The other Watchers and I except Rogue will form a semi-circle in front of the porch steps.”

“Wait a minute…..what about Rogue? Why are we hiding? We aren’t afraid of these things!! We can take them!” Jacob scoffed. The Watchers smiled at him.

“Rogue will be the only one fighting them.” Alexander answered.

“WHAT????? No way! That’s not happening!” Edward countered.

“Actually that’s the only way it’s happening.” Rogue spoke for the first time. Her voice didn’t sound the same. But the tone was not one to be argued with. The other Watchers agreed.

“Ok enough standing around, we have to get Michelle back to the house NOW!” Keith said.

With that, he scooped up an almost unconscious Michelle and flew into the air. It’s at that point that we realized Rogue had disappeared as did the other Watchers. We, meanwhile, started running. Even though we were all confused, the Watchers were almost methodical in their movements; it’s as if this was an exercise done many times over. I still wanted very much to know how we were going to treat Michelle. I was totally lost. Even flying at top speed, the Watchers heard all of our thoughts. Mine were answered by Amy.

“Don’t worry Carlisle. We know how to take care of her. It’s not going to be the best looking method. But you’ll see what I mean. You just have to trust us.”

Trust was never the problem. As a doctor, not being able to help someone in a medical crisis, especially a supernatural one, left me feeling inadequate. What the heck was I good for if I couldn’t even take care of a young girl bitten by a crazy, supernatural wolf?! I shook my head and concentrated a bit more on where I was going. Finally, we entered our backyard. The Watchers were already on the porch with Michelle. Esme flew into the house to get something for Michelle to lie on. She came out with a bunch of pillows, a few blankets, and a sleeping bag. Once that was down on the porch, Keith gently lowered Michelle unto it. She was shivering and covered up with blankets. Nessie was sitting next to her, holding one hand while her mother was holding the other.

Her father was sitting and looked like he was praying. We all watched helplessly. Then we heard a strange noise and looked out onto the backyard. The Watcher’s except Rogue had formed the horseshoe Alexander had spoken of around the porch and were looking toward the yard portion. Rogue floated down onto the ground. Everyone was facing a certain direction, the sounds of the forest…..changed. We were about to come face to face with an ancient enemy. No one could have prepared us for what they looked like (photos of the whole battle are below).

One by one the Children of the Moon emerged from the forest. Compared to them, the Quileute wolves looked like fuzzy little fury stuffed animals. These beasts were straight out of your worst nightmares or as Jacob would later describe it “even my nightmares would have nightmares of those things!” Massively large, gray and even red in color, with red or black eyes. They looked like they could move on two legs as well as four. I counted 15 of them total. There was one that walked in the front. He must have been their leader even though they didn’t seem to pay that much attention to him. Unlike the Quileute wolves, these wolves didn’t have a pack, they did what each wanted. They didn’t follow the rules of anyone. The reason they were here altogether, was for a chance to tear Michelle to shreds. And that was something no one was going to allow.

 Especially, from the looks of it, Rogue.

          When they came to a stop a little ways away, they looked at all of us and Rogue with what we could tell was complete and utter arrogance.

“They think this will be a piece of cake. They have no idea who or what they’re up against. We wouldn’t have let Rogue go alone if we didn’t think she would decimate them.”

Amy telepathically told all of us. We all looked at each other. Then at the Watchers; though none of them as much as blinked, I could tell they were very much anticipating what was about to happen. We though, couldn’t have prepared or imagined the next few moments. It’s even hard to describe here. I will do my absolute best. When it was all said and done, I as well as the rest of my family finally realized the full extent of the Watchers’ powers…..especially Rogue’s. We also understood why she was the leader.

But I digress. The beasts stared at Rogue as much as she stared at them. She gave nothing away. Then they started to growl. Finally, the biggest one and the rest of them sent forth a growl so frightening; I know if I was on that field I would have thought twice about facing off against them. However, no one was prepared for what we heard next. Rogue’s voice boomed back out at them at such a high volume that it wasn’t a voice but a roar of cataclysmic proportions; even our house shook! We were all stunned. The Watchers now started to smile a little. The beasts actually all took a step back. They looked at each other a bit nervously. This wasn’t going to be as easy as they thought.

In a blur, one of the beasts flew at Rogue. He didn’t get very far. She literally caught this massive thing in her hands and without what looked like much effort at all, ripped its head from its body. She then tossed the body aside but pitched the decapitated head back at the remaining beasts with such force, that it threw 3 of them back into the forest with enough strength to break 5 trees upon impact. It sounded like a bomb went off in the woods! Only one emerged from the forest and even it was looking lopsided. The other two were found later in separate pieces themselves, from the force of the decapitated head striking them.

Suddenly, the wind picked up again and we all looked up at the clouds. It was obvious something serious brewing. The beasts were bracing themselves against the vicious wind. Rogue lifted her left arm into the air toward the heavens and her right one straight out in the direction of the beasts. Just then a massive lightning bolt came down, it struck her left hand, illuminated her completely, it then shot out of her right hand and caught 5 of the beasts. With what must have been 100,000 volts of electricity if not more, all that remained of those beasts were super charged ashes!

She wasn’t finished. She looked around with those orange eyes of hers and they landed on one particularly hideous beast. They narrowed. It was squirming under her red hot gaze and tried to move backwards but found that it couldn’t move at all. She had paralyzed it in its tracks. Once that was done, she turned her attention to the remaining monsters. It was obvious to us all that she was saving that one for something later.

Just then she flew into the air and started to spin; slow at first but then faster and faster as she kept going higher and higher into the clouds above. As she spun the clouds started to spin with her and then around her until she was completely obscured. But what she had created was a vortex that started to come down toward the ground. We realized we were looking at a funnel cloud of a tornado!

“Holy shit!” Jacob muttered aghast.

          Those were the only words anyone was able to utter the entire time as we were watching the most unimaginable and unbelievable things happen. The Watchers who were still standing at closed ranks in front of us continued to maintain their composure and weren’t the least bit ruffled by the wind. This didn’t surprise them in the least. They just waited for the funnel to hit the ground and when it did, even a human being would be able to tell that wasn’t normal. It hit the ground with such force that the ground literally cracked under it. Tornadoes don’t crack the ground but just lift dirt and dust into the air. But this one hit the ground like a fist punching sand. Our backyard was turning into a war zone before our eyes.

          The funnel was spinning and it seemed to have a direction. Hell it had an aim and its aim was toward those beasts, who were all so stunned by what they were seeing, they didn’t have time to run. As it lifted each monster into its vortex, they disappeared inside of it. When they were spit back out, they were in two pieces. First came the body, then the head. Until all remaining beasts were piled in a direct heap at the end of backyard. Their headless corpses didn’t look any less dangerous or horrifying then when the heads were attached.

          At that point the funnel cloud started to dissipate until we saw Rogue again standing on the ground where the tornado was just moments earlier. She stood there for a brief moment then focused on the one monster she left standing paralyzed; now more by fear then the fact that she put the whammy on him. She started to approach it. As she did two things appeared out of nowhere in her hands. In her right hand, there appeared what looked like a very ancient looking dagger. It was very shiny which meant it was incredibly sharp and it had a beautiful black handle. In her left hand, there appeared to be an equally ancient looking black cup. It looked like it was made out of metal or iron.  

          She stopped right in front of it. It was almost taller than her. They were looking at each other eye to eye. It could have just moved its head a little bit and eaten her with its massive jaws. But everything looked different. Rogue was in charge and this large monstrosity was looking very scared. Then for the first time since this whole thing began she spoke:

“You and your pack of monsters have come here to kill and destroy. You have bitten one of my underlings. I and I alone decides who lives and who dies, as well as how they die. You are an abomination upon this earth! A living supernatural nightmare. You may have been made many eons ago. But it is I who is the oldest of all supernatural beings! I AM A GOD! You are a mere servant in the land of giants! And today you will serve me! You will serve me with your blood and your life! For it is only your blood that can save the one you have hurt. Now bow your head, animal, and take the punishment you so righteously deserve!”

          And it did! It bowed its head. As she spoke, its eyes got really wide. I think it figured out who she was. Even the Children of the Moon know who Rogue is! The way she was speaking, I felt like I was in Ancient Greece. It definitely wasn’t a modern way of speaking. Made me wonder for a moment if all those myths about Zeus and Mt. Olympus were real. Corin heard my thoughts, smiled and winked. I raised an eyebrow and she just smiled knowingly. Oh boy! Just exactly where were they from? They said Ancient Greece….but suddenly I felt like certain strange pieces were falling into place. Edward’s throat clearing got me back to the present as I refocused on what Rogue was doing.

          Using the dagger, she stabbed the beast with surprising ease and efficiency in the neck. The blood started to flow. She stood there for a moment, and then dipped the cup she was holding into the blood, letting it fill. After that she walked away from the beast. She was actually going to let it bleed to death! That was its punishment. It was going to really suffer for biting Michelle.  She raised the cup of blood into the air almost above her head. Suddenly, another lightning bolt came down and struck the cup. Amazingly, it didn’t destroy it. She then lowered the cup again.

 Just then Amy stepped forward for the first time. Rogue stretched out her arms toward Amy and the other did vice versa. Rogue then levitated the cup out of her own hands and it floated across the lawn into Amy’s hands. As soon as Amy had her hands around the cup, she turned around walked swiftly back toward us. As soon as she got to the porch, we let her pass and she made a beeline straight for where Michelle was lying down. Michelle looked incredibly pale. Without saying anything, Amy went down on her knees still holding the cup. She then put her left arm under Michelle’s head and lifted it up a little. She brought the cup to her lips. Michelle moaned. Amy whispered to Michelle:

“Come on honey, you have to drink this. It’s medicine. It’ll make you feel better.”

          Even we, vampires who survive on blood, were slightly gagging at the thought of what she was about to drink! But if what Amy said was true and we had no reason to believe she’d make Michelle drink it if it wasn’t going to work, then hey why not? Medicine is medicine. It differs around the world in every culture. And this wasn’t exactly your normal case of an injury. So you had to go with what you had. As a doctor I understood that and gulped down my revulsion. I nodded encouragement at Amy who had heard my thoughts and looked up. She smiled a bit and then continued to try to get Michelle to drink the blood. Nessie—who I couldn’t have been more proud of at that moment—also shook off her obvious urge to throw up to help Amy prop up Michelle’s head. She was going to do anything she could for her best friend!

          Michelle finally stirred enough to drink from the cup. Amy made sure she drank the entire thing. Then they lay her back down. Nessie covered her again with a blanket and lay down on the porch beside her. The rest of us, who could anyways, had tears in our eyes. The Watchers were looking prideful but still focused. We turned our attention back to the scene unfolding in the backyard. It wasn’t over yet. Rogue had watched long enough to make sure Michelle had drank the entire thing than turned her attention back to the monsters strewn around the backyard.

          The beast she bled was lying on the ground by now taking its last breaths as she looked at it. When its heart finally stopped beating and she knew it was dead, she lifted one hand and with a wave, made his body fly into the pile of decapitated beasts. When she was satisfied, she brought her hands together and in them a massive fireball was created. It was bigger than the 6 that took out the Volturi! She then flung it at the pile and it exploded into a giant wall of flame. She stood there watching it burn into oblivion. The Watchers all breathed a sigh of relief. Now it was really over.

          Alexander detached himself from us and walked across the field to his wife who still looked like a demonic warrior in her leather suit, shitkickers, trench coat, and those eerily orange-reddish eyes. When he reached her, he said:

“Come back to me, sweetheart. Please. It’s over. Michelle will be alright. I love you. Please come back to me. I can’t live without you.”

She turned around and looked at him. Stared at him actually. I don’t know how he could keep eye contact with that hellish stare of hers but he did it with ease. As they stared at each other and we watched them, we were all astonished to see her eyes start to shift……to change. Very slowly, her eyes changed. Then she closed them briefly and when she opened them again, they were that incredibly crystal blue color we were so used to by now and missed ever since this whole ordeal began!

Our Rogue was back!!

Then she smiled. Before she could say anything, Alexander wrapped his arms around her and spun her around. Then he kissed her……..for a long, long time. As they kissed, we started cheering. When he stopped, they didn’t say anything but walked hand in hand across the field back to the porch. Amy and Corin both hugged her. But her eyes were on Michelle, who by now had regained a lot of her color and was even trying to talk. She was still incredibly weak from all the blood loss. And there was the matter of her actual wound. But Rogue was kneeling next to get in seconds. She had taken off the trench coat by then. She reached her hands and put them over Michelle’s wound without touching her or it. Suddenly, bright yellow light started to emanate from her hands. It resembled the glow that Charlie and Sue had when they were chosen.

Right before our eyes, Michelle’s massive wound started to heal. In a matter of moments, nothing remained of the exposed flesh other than a scar in the shape of the jaws that bit her. Sadly, that is one thing that Rogue couldn’t make disappear. But somehow, I doubted Michelle cared that much about it; she wasn’t a vain girl. As long as she was alive and healthy, that was the most important thing. At that point she was able to sit up. Her parents hugged Rogue and thanked her over and over again. Then John lifted up his daughter and with a round of hugs, they flew to their own house. At that point everyone started to disperse.

Rogue and Alexander were next to leave. She still hadn’t said anything. Alexander did all the talking as they walked away. Just before leaving, Rogue took a look at the backyard which was now in shambles including Esme’s garden and bent down to the ground. Her eyes narrowed, she touched the ground, and the whole backyard lit up like a light bulb. We couldn’t see anything. But when the light faded, we were stunned to see that our backyard was back to the way it was before the battle happened. You wouldn’t be able to say anything happened there at all! Then the two of them walked back to their own home but not before she turned toward all of us, smiled, winked, and blew us all a kiss before continuing onward to their house.

We just continued looking after them stunned. Bella was the one who spoke first:

“Wow. I think we should call her, Rogue Warrior Princess from now on!”

“You mean instead of Xena?” Nessie asked. It was one of her favorite shows.

“Yep. Xena has nothing on her! Holy crow! I still can’t wrap my mind around what happened here. Can any of you?” We all shook our heads.

“I think Rogue Warrior Goddess is more appropriate.” Corin said with a laugh. Then the rest of Watchers flew off to their houses along with Peter who was being carried by Amy. We later heard a wonderful love song wafting from Rogue and Alexander’s house. Peter told us it was from the show “Lord of the Dance.” (Link is below)

Hmmmm…….Rogue Warrior Goddess…….has a nice ring to it………what do you all think?

          Whoever said enjoy peace and quiet while you could, didn’t know the half of it. So the day started off like any other. Our family was hanging outside; the weather was warm and sunny so we were staying close to home. No need to sparkle in public. We were in the backyard. Esme and Rosalie were planting the garden. I was sitting on the porch reading a book. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Seth, and Jacob were playing cards. Leah and Bella were putting a giant puzzle together on the grass. Nessie was walking around doing random cartwheels with Edward teaching her how.

          Soon, the Watchers joined us. Corin and Amy joined Bella and Leah on the grass with the puzzle. Peter and Keith joined the game of cards. Rogue sat down to watch Rose and Esme plant the garden, while Alexander sat a little ways away and from the looks of it was sketching Rogue and the other two with our new garden. Suddenly, Leah, Seth, and Jacob perked up and without warning bolted toward the woods and phased on the fly while the rest of us looked startled and confused. Edward was the one who spoke:

“They picked up some sort of scent that was unfamiliar to them. I have no idea what it is either.”

“Do you think there’s any danger?” Nessie asked worriedly.

“I think we’re fine for now.” Edward reassured her.

We went back to our own preoccupations except Nessie who sat next to her mother and Edward who came to sit next to me and peered around the backyard every so often. The calm didn’t last. Not even 5 minutes passed since the wolves took off as we noticed Maria emerge from the forest on the far edge of our backyard. Something was off about her. She started to walk forward, than started to run toward us. That got Rogue, Amy, and Corin’s attention. All three got up instantly and looked at her with concern. As she neared, we could see tears streaming down her face and it was filled with fright. At this point, she stumbled and started to fall; Alexander caught her before she hit the ground. I’d never seen a Watcher stumble or fall for that matter.

Maria continued to sob as not even a second passed when Rogue and the others reached her. Before Rogue could ask, Maria blurted it out:

“It’s Michelle! She’s hurt! Something bit her! All but took her leg off! Please come! She needs help!! John is with her.”

I instantly thought to the mysterious scent the wolves smelled. Could all this be tied together? It’s too much of a coincidence. As soon as Maria said what she said, Keith scooped her up as we doubted she could fly on her own or maneuver in any way. She pointed the way and Rogue took off in a blur so fast that even with a vampire’s keen sense of sight, I missed it, followed closely by Keith holding Maria, Amy, Corin, and Alexander. The rest of us glanced briefly at each other and took off running after them. Because Maria had to show us where Michelle and John were, Rogue slowed down enough to let them go first. Otherwise, she was still just a blur of white and blue that represented her shirt and jeans.

It wasn’t long before we reached where Michelle was lying on the ground with her father hovering over her shaking and looking quite concerned. Keith put Maria down who ran to her daughter still sobbing. Nessie who had caught up with the rest of us was the next one by Michelle’s side.

“Oh my gosh! Michelle! Are you alright? Can you hear me? Please talk to me!”

Nessie was almost crying herself as Michelle moaned and continued to lay in a fetal position. Just then we heard sounds of the wolves racing to join us. Before they appeared, they phased back to human form and walked over to us looking shocked by the site in front of them. Amy crouched over our injured friend.

“Michelle, honey, please show us where you were bitten. Please. I know it hurts but we need to see so we know how to treat you.” Amy said soothingly.

“Owwwwwwwww! It hurts so much!!!!!” Michelle was moaning as tears streamed down her face.

“Wait a minute; I thought Watchers were immune to any kind of injury? I’m confused.” Jacob said puzzled.

“Watchers are immune. Michelle is a Junior Watcher which makes her susceptible to injuries. This is why we only have 1,000 of them in the world.” Corin explained.

Everyone nodded, and then turned their attention back to Michelle, who by then had turned enough for Amy to see her injury. I was crouching next to her as well. Even though I had no idea how to treat Watchers, I was still a doctor and maybe could help in some way.

When we saw the bite, we all gasped; especially the Watchers. They looked at each other in horror. The bite was massive, from Michelle’s hip almost to her knee. A chunk of flesh was hanging loose. She was losing blood. Though not at the speed of a regular human. That part of her immortality was saving her from bleeding out in seconds. The print of the bite looked like massive jaws had gotten a hold of her.

“That’s way too large to be a vampire bite or any regular animal.” I said.

“It’s not a vampire bite nor anything else of that nature.” Amy said shakily.

“Well it wasn’t any of us.” Seth muttered, meaning the wolves.

“We know that.” Keith said slowly. It seemed that all of the blood had drained out of the Watchers’ faces. They knew. They knew who or what was responsible.

“What is it then?” Nessie asked for all of us.

There was a long beat of silence. We all waited. It was Alexander that spoke:

“It was one of the Children of the Moon. Some sort of hybrid that could turn in the sun as much as the moon. We’ve seen very little of them. They’re very rare.”

“The Children of the Moon?!”  Maria gasped horrified.

Just then, the ground under our feet started to shake; first a little bit and then violent enough to where none of us could stand without grabbing a hold of something. The wind picked up as well, the sun disappeared behind clouds that came out of nowhere.

“What’s happening?????!!!” Nessie yelled over the howling wind.

Then Amy gasped and her eyes got wide as saucers, her mouth dropped open. She was looking away from Michelle in a different direction. When we all looked in the direction she was, what we saw sent Goosebumps up the arms of even the vampires barely being able to stand as the ground continued to shake. The other Watchers’ reactions soon mirrored Amy’s. The biggest transformation was of the person standing not a great distance away. She was up in the air, her clothes had changed in the blink of an eye; she was now wearing a leather one piece suit, shitkickers, and a trench coat. But it was her eyes that had everyone as Jacob would say “scared shitless”. The crystal clear blue was gone; instead her eyes were bright orange with red edges. Almost spitting fire out of them.

Instead of the Rogue we knew, there, 3 feet off the ground, was a DEMON….

To be continued……